Jasper
Jasper is a wastelander residing in the forests of Cascadia who creates art through paint, canvas, and wood. Creating art for his own pleasure, Jasper is a reclusive individual and does not make art for a living. He is self-reliant with no need to trade with others. Biography Jasper was born on November 10, 2256 to loving parents on a prosperous homestead in eastern Washington. He was the third child of an ever-expanding family of fieldhands on the Ewell homestead. So, Jasper was raised to be a fieldhand as well from the moment he could walk. The little boy did not take to his family's role very well though. Being a fieldhand was really not in Jasper's mind as he grew up. His father taught him to hunt in his early teens, so Jasper learned much of the outdoors. Whether Jasper was hunting or just marveling at nature, he rarely ever seen by his family or the other residents of the homestead unless he absolutely had to do work. He often took a pencil and paper to draw nature when he was on his little "excursions" to express his early interest in art. Since Jasper had little education besides being taught to read and write, that took little time out of his days either. Jasper's anti-social behavior concerned his parents and others on the Ewell homestead. However, since he still did his work without interference and still paid heed to his parents, people were willing to tolerate Jasper's peculiarity as teenage compulsion. The only person to really understand Jasper was his older sister Margaret, who often provided him with pencil and paper when he needed it. Life on the Ewell homestead was shaken up quite violently in 2271 when a band of Oregon tribals began attacking at irregular intervals. They eventually left the area later that year with only a few casualties on both sides. It did leave a notable effect on Jasper though, who at that time finally got it in his head that perhaps he might not want to live on the Ewell homestead for the rest of his life. By the time he was seventeen, it was clear that life on the homestead was not the place for Jasper. It was not just a teenage phase. He knew it and everyone else on the homestead did as well. So, with little ceremony, Jasper left the Ewell homestead for parts unknown. He wished his family well and went off to look for his fate. Jasper wandered Cascadia for about a year searching for a purpose to his once rather mundane life. He survived off of hunting and trapping (which he learned from a wildman). This got Jasper through the year as he roamed Cascadia, encountering various curiosities and dangers. He also learned to make paint in Seattle from a pre-War instruction book he bought in Emerald City. Jasper mostly refrained from fighting while wandering and preferred the stealthy approach, but he fought when it was needed. Some places Jasper visited in those days include Seattle, Grand Coulee Dam, the Kingdom of God, Portland, and NAP Territory. It was through this roaming and seeing the wonders of Cascadia that Jasper realized what he wanted to do: to make art depicting the beauty of nature. In early 2274, Jasper had wandered for more than a year throughout the wasteland and was about ready to settle down to pursue his interest: creating art. Jasper, on the shores of Lake Chelan, saw a place to make a home for himself. He briefly considered taking up residence in the pre-War ruins present around the lake but instead decided it would be better to build his own house. However, he was not too proud not live in a ruined pre-War house while he was constructing his log cabin. Jasper started by cutting some logs for his cabin in the spring of 2274. Progress was slowed by Jasper's desire to still make art. That led to quite a bit of Jasper's time being devoted to drawing and painting instead of actually constructing his house. This slowed the building of Jasper's log cabin so it took about eight months instead of the estimated six months. Even though he was living in ruins during this time, Jasper made do. He continued hunting and fishing to survive as well as planting a small garden outside his log cabin’s construction site. The log cabin was completed just before winter set in fortunately for Jasper. After settling in and not having to worry about basic survival anymore, Jasper focused instead on procuring more dyes to make paint and exploring the little plot of land he had claimed for himself. He figured out what animals stalked the paths around Lake Chelan such as beaver, molerat, and lakelurk. Jasper set up traps accordingly to ensnare these animals for their meat, bones, and fur. This knowledge of trapping helped Jasper immensely and reduced his need to hunt. With more time on his hands, Jasper began painting in earnest in early 2275. It was also around this time that Jasper finally began naming his art to keep track of it. He started painting Lake Chelan #1-#19 beginning in 2275, a series of paintings of different angles of the lake in front of him. These paintings are his most renowned, admired for their attention to detail in regards to nature and highly valued by art dealers in Seattle. He currently has seven of these paintings with the rest being given away to various visitors. Two of these were given in good faith to Jialong Zhou in 2277 and 2281 who subsequently sold them both in Seattle, tried to procure a third, and was warded off by Jasper’s hunting rifle. A severe storm occurred in 2276 around Lake Chelan that flooded most of Jasper's log cabin besides the loft. There, Jasper managed to save the things most important to him. Unfortunately, that meant all his paintings besides the Lake Chelan series were destroyed by water damage. Jasper rebuilt quickly but recovering artistically took longer. He continued painting the Lake Chelan series but also painted Route 20 in 2277 depicting an old sign for State Route 20 against the backdrop of an overcast sky. The following years, the late 2270s and early 2280s, were uneventful for Jasper so he continued to create art, mostly paintings but also some woodcarvings. The most memorable of Jasper’s paintings from this time are Yao Guai Cub and Mother (one of Jasper’s only paintings with living subjects) and Domke Falls. He had few visitors at this time with the most notable being a scout for the Kingdom of God who has visited Jasper repeatedly over the years. Named Ehud, the scout never asked for any of Jasper’s art but simply wanted to talk. Ehud and Jasper talked about a range of things over the years ranging from religion to politics to sexual preferences. They disagreed a lot but they never came to blows, and Ehud still visits Jasper on occasion. Jasper became wrapped up in a whole lot of trouble in 2281 when his old “friend” Jialong Zhou came a’knocking to ask for refuge from a couple of Badlanders for selling them a batch of tainted Psycho. Jasper reluctantly allowed Jialong to stay at his log cabin until the problem blew over and in the meantime extracted the promise of a favor from the “businessman” from Chinatown. In recent years, mainstream “art consumers” in Seattle and the NCR have become aware of Jasper through his art, and many have looked for him though most have no real idea where he lives. Jasper prefers it this way and makes sure to tell anyone who happens upon him not to give away where he lives. However, one of Jasper’s admirers did make his way to Lake Chelan in 2286: General Shabazz of the Free Northwestern Army. Coming all the way from central Oregon, Shabazz arrived personally to “ask” Jasper to paint his portrait. Jasper was initially hesitant due to his unfamiliarity with Shabazz but decided to agree to Shabazz’s demands after some motivation. The painting took two months to make, as Jasper was not experienced in making portraits. In that time, Shabazz built a small log cabin beside Jasper’s to house him and his little retinue. The General was surprisingly cooperative in the painting process even though an air of unease hung over Jasper. Near the end of Jasper’s time painting Shabazz, Ehud arrived and messed things up. Shabazz's “decadent” sensibilities offended Ehud who offended Shabbazz in return with his views on the FNA. This was only resolved when Jasper, General Shabazz, and the General’s retinue were saved by Ehud from a vengeful homesteader set against the FNA. General Shabbazz left soon afterwards as well as Ehud, leaving Jasper with one more cabin. Jasper has continued making art since then and is currently focused on making Lake Chelan #20. He is unconcerned with events happening in the wider wasteland, still preferring to be left alone. Still, sometimes he misses the opportunity to have maybe married a woman and had a family of his own, but those moments of apprehension are rare. Jasper is, for the most part, content. Personality Jasper is the personification of the reclusive artist. Though Jasper prefers to live alone so he can make his art in peace, he is not actively hostile towards outsiders and welcomes visitors to his home. Jasper is a calm collected individual who does not like to talk, but he is willing to do it if motivated. Also, he is not overly attached to most of his art and will give the art away to visitors occasionally. One of Jasper's biggest flaws is procrastination with him often starting new art projects before finishing others. This extends to daily activities and sometimes Jasper does not eat or wash for days at a time while making art. This worsened as he got older but has not bothered many people since he left his first home at the Ewell homestead. He has recently taken up a habit of talking to himself, something else that makes him rather off-putting to people. Also, Jasper has never been blessed with much patience and is easily annoyed by visitors. This never turns into violence or anything, but Jasper can grow snarky or even hostile to his visitors at times. Appearance Since his departure from the Ewell homestead into the wasteland, Jasper has taken on a rather wild appearance. He wears buckskin most of the year due to being outside so much but wears heavier clothing during the winter. His physical appearance is rather threatening to a lot of outsiders. Jasper, although not that tall, cuts an imposing figure with long hair, a generally disheveled appearance, and little in the way of hygiene. This belies his rather friendly disposition and discourages many people from approaching him. Equipment Rarely does Jasper carry much equipment or technology. He most commonly carries around his art supplies in a satchel but also possess a combat knife for protection. Jasper owns a hunting rifle that he uses to hunt but rarely pulls it out otherwise. In his log cabin, Jasper keeps some other baubles that he almost never takes out. He keeps most of these in his second log cabin. This includes a collection of pre-War photographs collected from ruins, a mostly unused terminal bought from Geigers in Seattle, and a single frag grenade for emergencies. Quotes Category:Cascadia